US intelligence believes Beijing recruited former Megaspeed executive tied to Nvidia CEO who resigned

This is a new development in a story we reported earlier: Jensen Huang acknowledges affair with Alice Huang in memo to employees. Earlier in this story: US intelligence officials say China's MSS recruited Alice Huang to spy on Jensen Huang; House Republican Committee chairmen ask Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang for closed-door China briefing.

On Thursday, Jensen Huang resigned as Nvidia chief executive, ending more than three decades with the company he co-founded in 1993. Nvidia’s board opened an independent review to determine whether Huang’s relationship with Alice Huang put corporate secrets or national security at risk.

The board also began an independent investigation earlier to determine whether a foreign intelligence operation targeted Jensen Huang. Colette Kress, its chief financial officer, will serve as interim chief executive until the board selects a permanent replacement. Harvey C Jones became Nvidia’s first-ever board chair.

US intelligence believes Chinese intelligence services recruited Alice Huang to spy for Beijing. Alice Huang is a Chinese national and former executive at Singapore-based Megaspeed International, and she is not related to Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang.

American intelligence officials disagree over whether the evidence shows Alice Huang knowingly worked for Chinese intelligence. US intelligence agencies examined whether Alice Huang had ties to China’s Ministry of State Security and whether her ties to Jensen Huang could yield sensitive information.

Office of the Director of National Intelligence officials say calling Alice Huang a Chinese spy goes too far. CIA officials are uncertain whether the available material establishes that Alice Huang knowingly worked for Chinese intelligence. Some Trump administration officials consider Alice Huang’s ties and access to influential Americans a major counterintelligence concern. China denies the espionage allegations about Alice Huang.

The FBI has been investigating the Alice Huang matter for at least a year, according to reports. On Thursday, Attorney General Todd Blanche said the Justice Department, himself and FBI Director Kash Patel had not concluded anything about Alice Huang’s alleged intelligence ties.

In a letter to employees on Sunday, Jensen Huang acknowledged being unfaithful to his wife and apologized for causing his family pain. He wrote, “I was unfaithful to my wife. My actions hurt her and our children.” He added, “I owe my family and all of you an apology.”

Earlier in the week, Donald Trump publicly defended Jensen Huang, calling him an honorable person who built a major American company. Donald Trump reportedly called Jensen Huang on Tuesday and urged him to remain as chief executive. Trump has said Jensen Huang should remain in the chief executive role.

Trump said Jensen Huang was unaware of the alleged intelligence ties of the Chinese businesswoman linked to him, and when asked about the resignation, Trump declined to give a definitive answer and said the key question was whether the woman was a spy. On Monday, Trump said he was unaware of Huang’s relationship during the trip, noted that the FBI investigated a matter involving Huang, and described Huang as an honorable guy who built a great American company. Those reports also say Jensen Huang was in an intimate relationship with Kimberly Powell, an Nvidia executive subordinate to him.

She grew up in Hunan’s rural area and worked as a journalist for China’s state broadcaster, HSBC and Citic Securities investment bank, according to The Guardian’s account of Financial Times reporting. A Chinese fund database profile lists her past work at HSBC bank and as a reporter for CCTV and Hunan TV. She joined investment management company Hexi in 2015. There she met financier Kang Wei, and the two became romantically involved before remaking themselves as AI entrepreneurs.

Alice Huang and partners purchased Megaspeed, a Singapore-based unit of a Chinese gaming firm, in 2023 with plans to turn it into a datacenter business. The Financial Times reported that Alice Huang and Kang Wei told investors they could get access to Nvidia chips.

Based in Singapore, Megaspeed International rents computing power to businesses for training and running AI systems. Its own website calls it a central partner in Nvidia’s Asia-Pacific computing-power cloud business. The company was formerly known as 7Road International, a name that points to ties with Chinese gaming company 7Road. In December 2025, Megaspeed rejected Bloomberg’s allegations as misleading and said the report wrongly implied involvement in illegal chip transfers.

In 2024, the Justice Department and Commerce Department opened a Megaspeed investigation within a wider probe of foreign shell companies suspected of purchasing restricted Nvidia processors and forwarding them to China. In 2025, Singapore authorities investigated Megaspeed and questioned Alice Huang. Singapore’s Ministry of Home Affairs said on October 31 that its Megaspeed probe was continuing. Alice Huang told Bloomberg on October 29 that she no longer worked for Megaspeed.

The Singapore company said it hired outside lawyers to investigate the claims.

Advanced Nvidia processors used to build AI systems are a major concern in the US-China technology competition. US officials examined whether Megaspeed helped China acquire restricted Nvidia chips, though Nvidia says it reviewed and rejected the claims last year. Megaspeed reportedly buys large volumes of Nvidia chips, raising questions about whether advanced US technology reached China through intermediaries. White House officials have questioned why Megaspeed was not placed on the US Entity List, which restricts trade with firms deemed threats to national security or foreign policy interests.

No evidence indicates trade secrets or national security were compromised, Nvidia said. Nvidia described Jensen Huang’s contacts with Alice Huang as normal and expected. The company appointed outside counsel to review the relationship between Jensen Huang and Alice Huang. Nvidia’s market valuation stands at around $4.5 trillion.

Following the board announcement, Nvidia shares fell 4.27 percent, while one report put the decline at roughly 11 percent from the previous Wednesday. Its share price fell $430 billion, or 5.5 percent, by the previous day and fell to about $600 billion early on publication day after word the board might remove Huang.

The New Indian Express reported that Jensen Huang holds roughly four percent of Nvidia and is worth an estimated $160 billion, according to Forbes. The News International reported that investors view the risk as belonging to the enterprise rather than the chief executive.

Joe Biden’s administration introduced the Chips and Science Act in 2022, restricting US chip sales to China and banning exports of most Nvidia chips. The SAFE Chips Act, sponsored by Senators Ricketts and Coons in December 2025, would prevent the Commerce Department from issuing export licenses for advanced AI chips to China for 30 months. Last year, Trump approved the direct sale of Nvidia H200 chips to China in exchange for a 25 percent federal government cut.

Republican chairs of the House China Select, Foreign Affairs and Intelligence Committees requested a closed November 18 briefing from Jensen Huang on his meetings with Alice Huang and Nvidia’s anti-spying measures. Huang had until November 11 to accept the session or propose a different date. Nvidia’s third-quarter results are set for November 17, one day before the planned briefing.

Nvidia spokesperson John Rizzo said the announcement would not slow the company and that Huang would continue leading without interruption. Asked by Semafor, the company did not say whether Jensen Huang would attend the House briefing. The board probe comes amid reports of his alleged relationship with Alice Huang and questions about Megaspeed’s business dealings and possible attempts to skirt US export restrictions.

Senator Chris Coons said Congress would investigate and get answers. In June, Jensen Huang declined Senator Elizabeth Warren’s request to testify about Nvidia’s chip sales to China.

Steve Tsang, director of the SOAS China Institute, said China has a long record of industrial espionage and technology copying, with the focus now on AI rather than engines. Nigel Inkster, a former director of operations and intelligence for the British Secret Intelligence Service, said the facts are not established, though it seems more likely MSS recruited Alice Huang after learning of her relationship with Jensen Huang rather than before. China has built a large intelligence gathering operation, and the MSS is now bigger than the CIA. Jensen Huang visited the White House twice last month, attending a state dinner with Xi Jinping and a meeting of tech and AI executives.

The president reportedly received a briefing last year about US intelligence surveillance of Alice Huang. This spring, Secretary of State Marco Rubio oversaw creation of a classified memo warning that Jensen Huang had a relationship with a Chinese spy. Trump invited Jensen Huang at the last minute in May to board Air Force One in Alaska and join executives traveling to China. A US government official told the New York Times that Rubio briefed Trump on the memo after learning Huang would join the Alaska trip.

US intelligence officials reportedly concluded last year that Alice Huang was targeting Jensen Huang. Those briefed on the surveillance said Alice Huang had strong connections across the global AI chip industry and spoke good English. The earliest known photo of Jensen Huang and Alice Huang together comes from a 2024 after-party following a Taipei tech trade show.

The Guardian reported that when Jensen Huang met Alice Huang, when the relationship turned romantic, and what information she may have passed to Beijing during it remain unknown. Mathrubhumi English reported that a key unresolved question is whether claims about Jensen Huang’s personal ties point to a real foreign intelligence operation and whether US authorities sufficiently protected strategic AI technology from China.

The New Indian Express reported that many details of the reported espionage operation and suspected chip diversion remain unclear, and the claims have not been independently established. The Guardian reported that Trump plans to meet Xi Jinping next week at the APEC meeting in Shenzhen.